Friday, April 21, 2017

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on April 26th, 2017



Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood were the surprise guests of honor as they showed up at the U.K.'s 2017 Jazz FM Awards in London on Apr. 25 to collect two awards for the Rolling Stones -- Album of the Year (for Blue & Lonesome) and Blues Artists of the Year. "We started off a very long time ago in London trying to play clubs, and those clubs were jazz clubs," Jagger said. "We used to try and play these jazz clubs and they used to kick us out for playing blues. So this sort of feels full-circle," he added, then thanked the listeners of Jazz FM for voting. Producer Don Was, who also co-produced Blue & Lonesome, delivered a video message in which he called the veteran rock band "the most hard-working and talented musicians to ever step in front of a microphone." Also during the ceremony, American saxophonist Donny McCaslin, who memorably contributed to David Bowie's final studio album Blackstar, was honored the award for International Jazz Artist of the Year and performed at the ceremony. - Billboard, 4/25/17...... Paul McCartneyPaul McCartney announced on Apr. 25 that he'll be bringing his One on One Tour back to North America this summer with a schedule of 14 concerts set to kick off in Miami's AmericanAirlines Arena on July 5. Other cities on the tour, many of which Sir Paul will be playing in for the first time ever, include Tampa (7/10), Duluth, Minn. (7/13), Bossier City, La. (7/15), Wichita, Kan. (7/19), Des Moines, Ia. (7/21), Omaha, Neb. (7/23), Tinley Park, Ill. (7/25), Newark, N.J. (7/11), New York's Madison Square Garden (7/15), Brooklyn's Barclays Center (7/19), Syracuse, N.Y. (7/23) and Uniondale, N.Y. (7/26) before wrapping on Oct. 1 at Detroit's Little Ceasars Arena. McCartney recently announced that his next studio album, his followup to 2013's New, will be co-produced with Adele producer Greg Kurstin. - Stereogum.com, 4/25/17...... In other Beatles-related news, Ringo Starr is offering two lucky fans the chance to have brunch with him as part of his charity campaign with Omaze, which benefits the David Lynch Foundation, a non-profit organization that reduces trauma and toxic stress among at-risk populations. Starr will play host to one charitable fan (and a friend of their choice) at his 77th birthday brunch on the July 7 in LA. All you have to do is donate a minimum of $10 to Ringo's Omaze campaign. Starr made the announcement in a video, in which he also encouraged everyone to take a little time out on his July 7 birthday to spread a little "peace and love." Winners will be flown to the event, where they'll become part of Starr's inner-circle to dine in style with other VIP guests in front of the world-renowned Capitol Records building. - New Musical Express, 4/25/17...... Iggy Pop has signed a global licensing deal with Sony Music and Artist Legacy Group who will represent the "original punk" artist's "global brand," it was announced on Apr. 25. The deal will "spearhead new license extension opportunities for Iggy Pop's name and likeness across multiple product categories and media platforms," according to a press release. Over his long career, Pop has gone from a cult figure with a relatively small following to music icon, and his music has also been featured in an array of motion pictures, including Trainspotting, T2: Trainspotting and Gold and Kong: Skull Island, as well as in commercials for Royal Caribbean International, Guinness, Captain Morgan, Toyota, Chrysler, Audi and Volkswagen. He has appeared in various film projects (The Color of Money, Cry-Baby, Tank Girl, Blood Orange and Song to Song) as well as TV projects (The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Venture Bros and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. Commenting on the deal, Pop simply said, "Sounds like fun!" - Billboard, 4/25/17...... Elton John released a statement on Apr. 24 announcing that he's been forced to cancel all his scheduled Million Dollar Piano shows for April and May at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas after he contracted a "harmful and unusual bacterial infection" following a tour in South America. "During his return flight home from Santiago, Chile (Elton) became violently ill," the statement reads. "Upon returning to the UK, Elton's Doctors admitted him to hospital, where he underwent immediate treatment to remove the infection. After spending two nights in intensive care followed by an extended stay in hospital, Elton was released from hospital on Saturday, April 22 and is now comfortably resting at home per doctor's advice." The statement went on to say that Elton's infection is "rare and potentially deadly," butf ortunately his doctors were able to treat it successfully. John is expected to make a full recovery, and will make his return to the stage on June 3 in Twickenham, England. "I am so fortunate to have the most incredible and loyal fans and apologise for disappointing them," the 70-year-old singer added to the statement. "I am extremely grateful to the medical team for their excellence in looking after me so well." - Billboard, 4/24/17...... Gregg AllmanGregg Allman is denying reports that he's entered hospice care after an unverified news report on Facebook surfaced on Apr. 24 claiming the Southern rock icon was under medical care, which prompted country star Travis Tritt to send prayers to his friend and fellow musician. Instead, Allman posted on Facebook that he's resting at home in Savannah, Ga., on doctor's orders, and that he's "looking forward to seeing everyone again... Keep Rockin." The rumors arose after Allman has battled a number of past health issues. While no specific reason was given, in March he announced he wouldn't be touring in 2017 and canceled some scheduled June concerts. Allman canceled tours in 2016 and 2011 due to various health problems. - Billboard, 4/24/17...... Bruce Springsteen joined his E Street Band bandmate "Little Steven" Van Zandt onstage at the Asbury Music and Film Festival at the Paramount Theater in New Jersey on Apr. 22 for jams of "It's Been a Long Time" from the 1991 Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes album, Better Days, and Chuck Berry's "Bye Bye Johnny." Van Zandt, who introduced Springsteen as his "brother from another mother," also performed songs from his forthcoming album, Soulfire, set for release on May 19. Springsteen also participated in a reunion concert at the Paramount the previous evening featuring Southside Johnny, Vini Lopez, and other local musicians. - Billboard, 4/23/17...... Aretha Franklin has blasted her fellow singing legend Dionne Warwick in a phone interview with the AP, accusing Warwick of making up a story that Franklin was Whitney Houston's godmother, even though the alleged offense happened five years ago at Houston's funeral. Franklin claims Warwick made a "libelous" statement against her at the funeral. At the time, Warwick told funeral-goers that Franklin was there and introduced her, but then realized she wasn't in attendance. "'Ree's not here, but she is here," Warwick said, referring to Franklin by a nickname. "She loves Whitney as if she were born to her. She is her godmother." At the time, Franklin said she was suffering from swollen feet and had to skip the funeral so she could perform later that night at Radio City Music Hall in New York, which she said she was contractually obligated to do. Though Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston's mother, said in the days afterward that Franklin wasn't Houston's godmother (it was Darlene Love), Franklin felt the comment was damaging to her and planned to address it at a later date, and she said she feels now is the time. "We've never been friends and I don't think that Dionne has ever liked me," Franklin says today. "I don't care about her apology, at this point it isn't about an apology, it's about libel," she added. - AP, 4/25/17...... Mike RutherfordIn an interview with The Daily Mirror paper, former Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford hinted that Genesis could be getting back together in 2017 to celebrate its 50th anniversary. "I do appreciate the fact that we're all very good friends, which is nice, especially the three of us... Who knows?" said Rutherford, referring his two fellow primary band members Phil Collins and Tony Banks. "I did a book about me and my father called The Living Years about four years ago, and Phil did a book last year," Rutherford continued. "I came away, as he did too, with a feeling of what an incredible time we've had. How lucky we've been. And more importantly, what a great friendship we've had." Genesis last played together in 2007 on their 40th anniversary Play It Again Tour. - New Musical Express, 4/24/17...... In other prog rock news, Rush was honored with the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Award at the Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Awards in Toronto on Apr. 20. Rush members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were on hand to collect the award, with Lifeson calling it a "most humbling recognition... Seldom in our times have we felt a greater need for the humanitarian spirit than now, with the rising voices of fear and distrust becoming more commonplace, anger and hatred competing with love and compassion. It is more crucial than ever to champion the basic principles of human welfare." The three-day CMW event was attended by a who's who of Canadians and visiting international delegates, who participated in industry-focused keynotes and panels and attended six nights of live music all over Toronto. - Billboard, 4/21/17...... A deluxe 3-CD remastered version of Prince's landmark album Purple Rain will be released later in 2017, the Prince fansite Prince.org has revealed. All tracks have been carefully transferred from the stereo masters at Paisley Park, and mastered by Bernie Grundman -- the mastering engineer who worked on the original album. The reissue will also include a concert film recorded in Syracuse on March 30, 1985, with audio remastered by Grundman. Warner Bros. has also announced that they plan to release two new Prince concert films on June 9. - NME, 4/20/17...... Neil YoungNeil Young announced on his Pono community website on Apr. 21 that he'll be starting his own hi-fi streaming service called "Xstream" (which also happens to be the name of a streaming service that's featured in the Fox series Empire). "For more than eight months, I've been working with our small team to look for alternatives," Young wrote. "Finding a way to deliver the quality music without the expense and to bring it to a larger audience has been our goal. Xstream plays at the highest quality your network condition allows at that moment and adapts as the network conditions change. It's a single high-resolution bit-perfect file that essentially compresses as needed to never stop playing." Young added that his entire catalog will be available on Xstream in the near future. Young's Pono store, which used his proprietary audio player and online storefront for high fidelity recordings, has been offline since last July, and a cursory look at the company's Facebook page reveals a lot of disgruntled customers. Young acknowledged Pono's rocky start, and admitted that the exorbitantly high prices for Pono-exclusive files (albums cost anywhere from $20-30; individual tracks were $1.99 to $2.99) were part of the reason it didn't work out as anticipated. "All songs should cost the same, regardless of digital resolution. - Stereogum.com, 4/21/17...... A performance by Carly Simon after the screening of the Clive Davis documentary The Soundtrack of Our Lives on Apr. 19 at Radio City in New York reportedly caused several audience members to wince. Simon performed her hit "Coming Around Again," mixed with "Itsy Bitsy Spider," while flanked by a group of small children doing the nursery rhyme hand gestures. "Why is this happening?" wailed one attendee, while another joked, "This sounded a lot better when we were high in the 70s." Another source said, "It felt weird, people were wincing." Simon has performed the unusual song mix for years, and apparently nobody has told her to stop. - PageSix.com, 4/21/17...... '70s movie icon Burt Reynolds made a rare public appearance on Apr. 22 as he attended the Tribeca Film Festival to promote his new drama Dog Years, alongside co-stars Chevy Chase, Ariel Winter and festival founder Robert De Niro. The 81-year-old Reynolds, wearing a pair of orange-tinted glasses and a blue shirt and black suit, appeared frail and struggled to walk down the red carpet, however he brushed off his frailty and instead gushed about his fellow stars. "Great to see Mr. De Niro, who I love, and... you know, all the people that I know," he told the Associated Press. "It's very sweet." Reynolds, who underwent a heart bypass opration in 2010, last appeared in public in April 2016 to promote his memoir, But Enough About Me. Dog Years is in cinemas now. - WENN.com 4/24/17...... Erin MoranActress Erin Moran, best known for playing Joanie Cunningham in the iconic '70s series Happy Days, died on Apr. 22 of stage 4 cancer at her home in Indiana. She was 56. The cause of death of Moran, whose body was found unresponsive by authorities, was released on Apr. 24 in a joint statement from the Harrison County Coroner's office and sheriff's department. The department says an autopsy revealed the 56-year-old actress had stage-four cancer, but doesn't specify what type. Moran died in the rural community of New Salisbury, about 20 miles northwest of Louisville, Kentucky. Officials say standard toxicology test results are pending but that no illegal narcotics were found at the home. A native of Burbank, Calif., Moran began acting in TV and movies before she was 10 years old, and shot to fame in 1974 after being cast as Joanie Cunningham, the feisty kid sister to high school student Richie Cunningham, played by Ron Howard, in Happy Days. Moran continued the role in 1982 in the short-lived spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi In 2012, Moran made headlines after she was evicted from a trailer she was sharing with her husband. Moran's Happy Days co-star Henry Winkler, who played Fonzie on the series, issued a statement saying he hopes Moran would finally find peace. - Variety.com, 4/24/17...... Veteran Hollywood agent and talent manager Sandy Gallin, who guided the careers of such luminaries as Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton, Cher and Nicole Kidman, as well as being a TV, movie and Broadway producer, died on Apr. 21 after a long battle with multiple myeloma, according to close friend Bruce Bozzi. He was 76. Gallin helped produce such films as 1991's Father of the Bride and 1994's I.Q starring Tim Robbins, as well as the TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. He earned a Primetime Emmy Award in 1980 for producing The Miracle Worker, starring Melissa Gilbert. He also managed Michael Jackson after the pop star was accused of molestation and guided Milli Vanilli when the performers were stripped of their Grammy Award after it was discovered they had not sung on their hit album. Raised in New York City, Gallin was a graduate of Boston University who broke into the agency business in the traditional manner, starting in the mail room of the G.A.C. agency. He took typing and shorthand in night school, became a secretary, then an agent. In later life, he sold houses and did luxury renovations. "We lost a shining light this morning," Bruce Bozzi wrote on Instagram in tribute. - AP, 4/22/17.

A MusiCares panel dedicated to treating artists and other music professionals who've become addicted to drugs and alcohol on Apr. 27 in New York City will feature Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke. Kirke, who works closely with Road Recovery, an organization that uses musicians to mentor teens battling addiction, will take part in "Plugged In - Treating The Music Professional and Leading Them Toward a Lifetime of Recovery," along with a panel of intervention and recovery experts. - Billboard, 4/21/17...... Two Classic Rock tracks have entered the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart for the week dated Apr. 29. Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song," which bowed at No. 16, is fueled by its appearance in the trailer for Thor: Ragnarok. The J. Geils Band (named after its founder and guitarist J. Geils, who passed away on Apr. 11) also makes its first appearance on the same chart as "Centerfold" debuted at No. 21. "Centerfold" was the group's only No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart, ruling for three weeks in 1982. - Billboard, 4/20/17...... Tommy ShawStyx will release The Mission, its first new album in 14 years, on June 16. The Mission was recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville with Styx guitarist/vocalist Tommy Shaw's longtime collaborator Will Evankovich. Shaw and bandmate James "J.Y." Young said the inspiration for the album came from the discovery of a fifth moon around Pluto which was named Styx -- not explicitly after the band -- but it did introduce the group to New Horizons, which discovered the moon and befriended Styx and, according to Shaw, "helped us out with the mythology and images and science of it." "It's the 40th anniversary of The Grand Illusion," Shaw says, "so wouldn't it be great if we had a record that had some resonance with our heyday but nonetheless was reflecting our current lineup and their capabilities to perhaps go beyond what we did then, and here we are." Four days before the album's release, Styx will kick off a co-headlining summer tour behind the LP with REO Speedwagon on June 12. Recalling the "prime era" of Styx with The Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight, Shaw says "we wanted to make sure (the new album) sounds like the Styx everybody grew up with, so that was the margins for it." Styx say they hope to perform the 14-track The Mission in its entirety at some point but will have to wait until the REO tour ends in late August. - Billboard, 4/21/17...... Roger WatersIn other prog-rock news, Roger Waters has revealed full details of Is This the Life We Really Want?, his first solo studio album in 25 years. Described as an "unflinching commentary on the modern world and uncertain times," the 12-track LP will hit stores on June 2 and be the followup to Waters' 1992 effort Amused to Death. Is This the Life We Really Want? was produced and mixed with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich and also be released as a 180-gram vinyl LP, and digitally. - New Musical Express, 4/20/17...... Queen & Adam Lambert announced details of a massive UK and Ireland tour for 2017, followed by several dates in Europe in November. Lambert, who rose to fame on the US talent show American Idol, has been Queen's touring frontman and replacement for Freddie Mercury since 2011. Queen guitarist Brian May says they will "chuck in a few things that people really don't expect" more than usual on this tour. "There are so many dimensions to Adam, which of course fits with our music. He can get down and do the rock stuff really dirty, and you have all those dimensions, and we can explore that even more," May says. Drummer Roger Taylor adds that "we're planning on doing stuff we either haven't done before or haven't done for a long time." - NME, 4/18/17...... Kraftwerk have announced a new live release, 3D - The Catalogue, on May 26 which features audio and visual recordings of the German electronic rock pioneers playing such albums as Autobahn, Tour De France and Techno Pop. 3D - The Catalogue will be released in Blu-ray, CD, DVD and vinyl formats. A shortened version of the album will also be released, containing choice cuts from across the eight performances. Kraftwerk will perform a number of live dates in the UK later in 2017. - NME, 4/21/17...... PrincePrince was remembered thoughout Minneapolis, Minn., on Apr. 21, the one-year anniversary of his untimely death from an accidental drug overdose. At Paisley Park, which has been turned into a museum, a full four days of events have been scheduled, ranging from concert performances by Prince's former bandmates to panel discussions. Also, street parties will be held on Apr. 21 and 22 outside First Avenue, the Minneapolis club he immortalized in Purple Rain. The Minnesota History Center will also be staging a special exhibit of Prince memorabilia, including his iconic "Purple Rain" suit. Meanwhile, Nielsen Music has announced that the Purple One's catalog of albums and songs have sold a combined 7.7 million copies through the week ending Apr. 13 .Incredibly, for the full year of 2016, Prince sold more albums than any other artist -- even Adele -- with 2.23 million copies sold. The bulk of Prince's album and songs sales occurred in the month after his death: 5.65 million were registered between April 21 and May 19, 2016. In more Prince news, members of his 1980s backing band The Revolution have announced they are reuniting and hitting the road for a spring 2017 tour that includes stops in Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco before ending in Seattle on July 15. - AP/Billboard, 4/21/17...... After the conservatively sympathetic trio of Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and Sarah Palin visited Pres. Donald Trump at the White House on Apr. 20, a pic of Nugent and Pres. Trump was posted on Twitter and went midly viral. The pic prompted diehard liberal David Crosby to tweet soon after that "this picture says it all... the two most insincere smiles in history... what a pair of assholes." - Spin.com, 4/20/17...... Speaking of Pres. Trump, Bruce Springsteen and Pittsburgh musician Joe Grushecky are sending a strong message to the newly elected controversial president with a new anthem called "That's What Makes Us Great." "I had this song, and Bruce and I had been talking. I sent it to him and he liked it. I said, 'What do you think about singing on it?,'" Grushecky told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "He gave it the Bruce treatment." Grushecky says he wrote the song, which uses the Trump slogan "Make America Great Again" as an answer to the Trump administration's positions on administration, after the inauguration in January. Grushecky and Springsteen have a long history together, first collaborating on the 1995 album American Babylon and later on the Pittsburgh rocker's 2009 album East Carson Street. The song is now available for download at grushecky.com. - Billboard, 4/19/17...... A new Clive Davis documentary, Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives, premiered on Apr. 19 at the opening of the Tribeca Film Festival at Radio City Music Hall. The screening was followed by a special concert featuring performances by several of the record label mogul's most famous signees, including Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson, Earth, Wind & Fire, Dionne Warwick, Carly Simon and Barry Manilow. The documentary, based on Davis' 2013 bestselling autobiography, will also be coming exclusively to Apple Music for streaming. - Billboard, 4/19/17...... Stevie WonderStevie Wonder was presented with ASCAP's inaugural Key of Life award at the ASCAP I Create Music Expo on Apr. 15 in Los Angeles. Escorted onstage by singer/songwriter/actress Janelle Monae, Wonder said, "I cannot thank any of you enough, so I'll just spend the rest of my life doing that -- whether you like it or not." Then the 25-time Grammy award winner sat down next to his keyboard for a one-on-one conversation with Monae: "So I guess you're going to ask some questions, getting into my business," he said as the audience laughed. For the next two hours, the audience journeyed with Wonder as he reflected on his beginnings as an 11-year-old music prodigy at Motown, his 50-plus year love affair with music, what inspires his songwriting and the inner workings behind some of his classic songs, several of which he played for the audience. In other Stevie Wonder-related news, the singer's collaborator Sylvia Moy, who contributed to such Wonder smashes as "My Cherie Amour" and "I Was Made to Love Her," died on Apr. 14 in a Dearborn, Mich., hospital following complications from pneumonia. She was 78. As one of Motown's first female songwriter/producers, Moy was instrumental in shaping the label's pioneering legacy. She, Wonder and fellow songwriter Henry Cosby initially teamed up in 1965 to write Wonder's No. 1 R&B and No. 3 pop single "Uptight (Everything's Alright)." The trio went on to pen the Billboard Hot 100 hits "My Cherie Amour" and "I Was Made to Love Her" as well as "I'm Wondering" and "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day." Moy, a six-time Grammy nominee and member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, additionally broke down barriers as one of Motown's first ever female producers. - Billboard, 4/16/17...... Cuba Gooding, Sr., a former member of the '70s soul group The Main Ingredient and the father of Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding, Jr., was found dead in a parked car in the San Fernando Valley in California on Apr. 20. He was 72. LAPD officials have confirmed that there was "no indication of foul play or homicide" with the death in question, and that Gooding's death will now be passed on to the coroner for an inquest. However, sources close to the investigation claim a drug overdose is suspected. In addition to his work with The Main Ingredient, with hits including "Everybody Plays the Fool" and "Just Don't Want to be Lonely," Gooding also enjoyed a solo career with Motown Records. In addition to Cuba Jr., Gooding and his wife Shirley have three other children together -- actor Omar Gooding, musician Tommy Gooding and actress April Gooding. Cuba Gooding, Jr. has yet to speak out on his father's death. - New Musical Express, 4/21/17...... Allan HoldsworthAllan Holdsworth, an innovative rock guitarist who was hailed as one of the most technically gifted guitarists of his time, died on Apr. 15 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 70. The innovative musician shaped his reputation through the '70s as a master of prog-rock and jazz fusion with such acts as Tempest, Soft Machine, Gong and U.K., but never quite struck the commercial success he richly deserved. His signature two-handed finger tapping style influenced the best in the business, from Carlos Santana, Frank Zappa, Pat Metheny, John McLaughlin, Tom Morello, Peter Frampton to Joe Satriani and Eddie Van Halen, who called him "the best, in my book" and "so damned good that I can't cop anything." After stints in several prog British bands in the 1970s and 1980s, Holdsworth embarked on a solo career in 1982 with his album I.O.U, and the following year earned a Grammy nomination for his EP Road Games (for best rock instrumental performance). Holdsworth's family launched a GoFundMe campaign to help drive donations for funeral expenses, which has raised over $80,000 to date. "He was a brilliant unique guitar master player," Peter Frampton tweeted after learning of Holdsworth's passing. - Billboard, 4/17/17...... Bruce Langhorne, an influential session guitarist who often collaborated with Bob Dylan and inspired his song "Mr. Tambourine Man," died of kidney failure at his home in Venice, Calif., on Apr. 14. He was 78. A mainstay of the Greenwich Village folk rock music scene in the 1950s and 1960s, Langhorne played with the likes of Joan Baez, Gordon Lightfoot and Buffy Sainte-Marie, among others. Langhorne, perhaps best known for his work on Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home, is survived by his wife of 29 years, Janet Bachelor. - AP, 4/16/17...... Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony has paid tribute to his grandson, who died of a fatal heart problem just two weeks after his birth. Anthony took to Facebook to express his sadness at the loss. He wrote: "We are tremendously proud of Rex. In the short time on Earth, he left a lasting impression that our family will cherish. I am doing the 'Walk L.A.' in June for Children's Hospital L.A. with our families to give back a little to the hospital that did so much for my grandson and other children that come here. Our team is called 'Rex and the Heart Beaters'." Anthony and his family are hoping to raise $5,000 in donations to benefit Children's Hospital L.A.. It has currently reached over $4,000. - New Musical Express, 4/20/17.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on April 16th, 2017



The husband of Heart singer Ann Wilson was sentenced to 364 days in jail, with all time suspended, on Mar. 9 for assaulting two of Wilson's teen nephews who wanted to look inside her tour bus in Aug. 2016 as she played a concert in suburban Seattle. Dean Wetter pleaded guilty to the two counts of assault, who the 16-year-olds say started yelling at them after they left the door open, then allegedly punching one of them in the head and grabbing him by the throat. When the other teen stepped in, Wetter allegedly grabbed his throat "and squeezed to the point he could not breathe." - Billboard/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 4/15/17...... Todd Rundgren joined the New York duo the Lemon Twigs onstage as the act performed at the Coachella festival in California. Michael D'Addario of the Lemon Twigs called Rundgren "one of our favourite guitarists of all time" as he walked on to the stage, where they performed Rundgren's "Couldn't I Just Tell You" from his 1972 album Something/Anything? - New Musical Express, 4/15/17...... Glen CampbellGlen Campbell is scheduled to release a new studio album, Adiós, on June 9. The LP is the "second half" of Campbell's "final album," the first part being 2015's I'll Be Me which was recorded shortly after the country/pop star's Alzheimer's diagnosis a few years ago. Campbell's abilities to play, sing and remember songs began to rapidly decline after his diagnosis in 2011, and he hasn't toured since 2012. Adiós, features songs written by longtime collaborator Jimmy Webb and guest appearances from Willie Nelson, Vince Gill and Roger Miller, and features covers of songs from the likes of Bob Dylan, George Jones, Jerry Reed and Dicky Lee as well as a rendition of Harry Nilsson's Fred Neil-penned hit, "Everybody's Talkin'." - Billboard/Stereogum.com, 4/14/17...... Researchers at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History have named a newly discovered species of shrimp that uses a bright pink claw to create a sound loud enough to kill small fish after prog-rock icons Pink Floyd. Synalpheus pinkfloydi is found on Panama's Pacific Coast and researcher Sammy De Grave says the description of the shrimp was "the perfect opportunity to finally give a nod to my favorite band." Pink Floyd has been previously honored in nature with a damselfly named after its 1969 album Ummagumma. - AP, 4/14/17...... A taped screening of David Bowie's "Lazarus" musical will be presented on Apr. 30 during the V&A 2017 Performance Festival in London. Written by Bowie and Enda Walsh, "Lazarus" wrapped up its run in London in January, but footage of the production shot in VR at King's Cross in January will screen at the Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre during a special screening. A panel of filmmakers from the V&A and the RSC [Royal Shakespeare Company] will also deliver a lecture during the event. - Billboard, 4/13/17...... Hall & Oates announced on Apr. 13 that they'll kick off a 30-city summer tour of North America on May 4 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. The soulful duo will also visit such markets as St. Louis (5/6), Milwaukee (5/13), Chicago (5/15), Detroit (5/17), Cleveland, Oh. (5/20) and Columbus, Oh. (5/22) on the jaunt before it wraps with a two-night stand at L.A.'s Staples Center on July 28-29. - Billboard, 4/13/17...... Brian MayIn a recent interview with the UK paper The Daily Star, Queen guitarist Brian May revealed that the long-awaited biopic of late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury will be coming out in 2018. "The Freddie film is coming sooner than you might think, next year," May said. He also hinted that Queen may tour the UK and Europe soon with vocalist Adam Lambert: "We will be in America most of the summer and then probably be back around these parts at the end of the year." The Mercury biopic has been subject to many rumors and stumbling blocks since it was first announced over four years ago, with both Daniel Radcliffe and Sacha Baron Cohen believed to be portraying Mercury at different points before Mr Robot star Rami Malek landed the lead role. Meanwhile, Queen recently unveiled a new special "Queen edition" of Monopoly. - NME, 4/13/17...... In an interview with ABC Radio, former Journey frontman Steve Perry says he's working on a "cathartic" new collection of songs due later in 2017 inspired by a difficult period in his life. "I met someone and I feel in love with this person. And I lost this person to breast cancer four years ago," said Perry, who's last solo album, Strange Medicine, was released back in 1994. As for not performing with Journey when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier in April, Perry said he "kind of went my 'Separate Way'," in a not-so-subtle reference to his old band's 1983 hit. "And I had all kinds of reasons that were important to me to do so. [And] though I've been gone... the fans have always been in my heart." Perry has not announced a firm release date, or title, for the new album. - Billboard, 4/11/17...... Speaking to NBC News, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi revealed that Black Sabbath is planning a new documentary as well as a live album from recordings of their final shows. "I'm in the process of mixing the sound from the final Sabbath shows in Birmingham for a possible live album," Iommi said. "We'll actually be doing a documentary. My job at the moment is to have a listen to what we've done," he added. Iommi, who previously said Sabbath's "The End" tour only marked the end of the band as a live group, also says he has "bags" of riffs he came up with for Black Sabbath that might one day wind up on a solo album. - New Musical Express, 4/10/17...... Willie NelsonWillie Nelson has organized an Outlaw Music Festival Tour this summer that will kick off on July 1 at New Orleans' Shrine on Airline with an A-list group of pals including The Avett Brothers, Sheryl Crow, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, plus other performers. Other stops on Nelson's tour include July 2 in Dallas (with Sheryl Crow and the Avett Brothers); July 6 in Rogers, Ark. (with Crow and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit); July 8 in Detroit (with Crow, Isbell and Bob Dylan and His Band); July 9 in Milwaukee (with Crow, Isbell and Dylan); and July 16 in Syracuse, N.Y. (with Crow and My Morning Jacket). "We had such a blast launching and playing last year's Outlaw Music Festival in Scranton, we had to take it out on the road this summer," Nelson said a statement. - Billboard, 4/11/17...... Talking to the podcast Thunder Underground on Apr. 13, Gene Simmons of Kiss slammed free streaming sites for "killing" the music business by taking money away from aspiring musicians. "Good luck to 'em. I am not a supporter," Simmons quipped of such sites Spotify. "If you wanna earn a living, you can't get the music out there. So you're living in your mother's basement, you have to have a day job and the kids get your music for free. And the people that killed all the new bands are the fans themselves. It wasn't corporate America, it wasn't aliens from space. The people that killed the music they love are the people who love the music." Simmons, 67, also doesn't agree with the idea of fans paying however much they like for music, a scheme tested out by such bands as Radiohead. "It doesn't work. Charge people. Make them pay," he stated. "Make a cross, draw a line in the sand. This is commerce, and that's charity." - WENN.com, 4/14/17...... Fleetwood Mac members Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham have shared a track with Spotify users called "In My World" from their upcoming collaborative LP Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie, an album of duets that will be released on June 9 via Atlantic. Buckingham and McVie will also embark on a short North American tour behind the new album this summer, beginning on June 21 in Atlanta. They'll also play Nashville, Raleigh, Vienna, Va., Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Toronto, Woodinville, Wash., Murphys, Calif., Las Vegas and Phoenix before wrapping on July 27 in Denver. - NME, 4/14/17...... Iggy Pop will release a new song called "Asshole Blues" as part of the Jacuzzi Boys' Mag Mag label's flexi disc series on Apr. 21. "I wrote a blues song about an asshole who's out to get me. It's full of negative energy. Listen at you own risk. It's fun to play the blues," Pop told Rolling Stone magazine. The track is a stripped-back song, with Pop singing over a simple acoustic guitar. The rest of the artists set to appear on the flexi disc series are yet to be announced. - NME, 4/14/17...... J. GeilsGuitarist J. Geils, the longtime leader of the J. Geils Band, was found dead in his Groton, Mass., home on Apr. 11. He was 71. Geils was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene, and police say a preliminary investigation indicates that he died of natural causes. Born John Warren Geils, Jr. on Feb. 20, 1946, in New York City, Geils formed The J. Geils Band in Boston in 1967 with Danny Klein, Magic Dick Salwitz, Stephen Jo Bladd and Peter Wolf (later Seth Justman joined) while studying mechanical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The J. Geils Band released 11 studio albums before breaking up in 1985, and the group would reunite on and off over the years following. The J. Geils Band had 17 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including 10 top 40-charting hits. The band's biggest single, "Centerfold," spent six weeks at No. 1 and "Freeze-Frame" peaked at No. 4. Their other charting singles include "Love Stinks" (No. 38), "Give It To Me" (No. 30), "Must of Got Lost" (No. 12) and "I Do" (No. 24). They also had 15 charting albums on the Billboard Hot 200 LP chart, including 1972's Full House "Live," a million-seller, and the No. 1 set Freeze-Frame, which spent four weeks atop the list in 1982 and finished at No. 5 on Billboard's year-end Top Pop Albums chart (while "Centerfold" was the year's No. 5 Top Pop Single). In 2012, the J. Geils Band toured without Geils' involvement, leading the Geils to file an unsuccessful lawsuit against group members Salwitz, Klein, Wolf and Justman over use of the band's name for a tour without him. Geils left the band permanently following this incident. The J. Geils Band, sans Geils and with Duke Levine and Kevin Barry on guitar, continued touring despite the legalities. No details on a settlement have ever been revealed. - Billboard, 4/11/17...... Bassist Banner Thomas, a member of Molly Hatchet's lineup during the band's earliest and most commercially successful years as a recording act, died in Jacksonville, Fla., on Apr. 10. He was 63. Thomas also co-wrote a number of Molly Hatchet songs -- including the group's signature hit, the title track to 1979's Flirtin' With Disaster LP. After leaving Molly Hatchet in 1983, Thomas remained in the Jacksonville area, where he went on to co-found the group Big Engine, moving in and out of that band's lineup at various points over the years. - 1/13/17...... Bob Wooten, a longtime guitarist in Johnny Cash's band for 30 years in his egendary backing band The Tennessee Three, died on Apr. 9 in Tennessee. He was 75. Wooten, who often worked as a double for Cash in television shows and movies, became Cash's brother in law when he married Anita Carter. After Cash's death, Wootton devoted much of his time to keeping the memory of Johnny Cash alive. He is also a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. - 4/13/17....... Actor Peter Hansen, best known for his long run as lawyer and volunteer addiction counselor Lee Baldwin on the ABC soap opera General Hospital, died on Apr. 9 in Santa Clarita, Calif. He was 95. Mr. Hansen's first run on General Hospital spanned from 1965-1976, followed by a second between 1977 and 1986. He re-joined the show briefly in 1990, and then again from 1992-2004. His work won him a Daytime Emmy for best supporting actor in 1979. - Variety.com, 4/11/17.

Some of the biggest Classic Rock stars of the '70s including Don Henley of the Eagles, Roger Daltrey of The Who, Santana, Steve Miller Band, Bad Company, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick and Pat Benatar will headline a "Rock Getaway" festival in Mexico this fall at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya. Set for Oct. 26-Nov. 5, the event is modeled after the successful 2016 Desert Trip festival in California and is offering attendees "stunning tropical views, a private white sand beach, and exclusive saltwater snorkeling areas." Fans can choose from three packages, including 4-, 7- and 11-day options, and all three include accommodations at the all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotel or Unico Resort and admission to all concerts. Concerts will take place on oceanfront stages and be accompanied by pool parties, after partiers and late night jam sessions. - Billboard, 4/10/17...... Gene SimmonsGene Simmons of Kiss made an impromptu, tearful speech at the funeral of rock 'n' roll legend Chuck Berry at The Pageant club, where Berry often performed, in the musician's hometown of St. Louis, Mo., on Apr. 9. After spending most of the service at the back of the concert hall, Simmons was urged to speak and, with his voice breaking confessing that there were "real tears" behind his dark sunglasses, commended Berry for "(breaking) down the barriers, made all kinds of peoples' hearts and minds open up to the idea that we all belong to the same people." Simmons admitted that he had never had the opportunity to meet Berry in life, but felt he could not let the day go by without "coming here and honouring him," before going on to add that, without Berry, "I wouldn't be here." Simmons later posted on Facebook that "the open casket was on view, but I couldn't bear looking. It would break my heart." Letters from Paul McCartney and Bill Clinton were also read during the event. Fans began gathering before dawn to pay their respects during the four-hour public viewing for Berry, who lay in an open casket with his cherry red Gibson ES-335 electric guitar bolted to the inside of its lid. Flower arrangements were displayed in the room, including one in the shape of a guitar sent by the Rolling Stones. A private memorial service took place after the public viewing, with only Berry's friends and family permitted entry. Berry, who won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 1984 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1986, passed away on the afternoon of Mar. 18 after being found unresponsive in his Missouri home. His first single, "Maybellene," was one of the first songs to be classified as a rock 'n' roll hit. - New Musical Express/AP, 4/10/17...... Daryl's House, the upstate New York eatery owned by Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates, is suing the village of Pawling, N.Y., over a dispute involving the venue, which features live music. Lawyers for Hall are seeking $3.2 million in compensation and claim the town illegally held up his plans to expand the venue to include an outdoor amphitheater, in an effort to force him to reduce capacity at the club. Hall says that if he has to do that, he'll be forced to close the venue, which has hosted acts from Todd Rundgren to Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Residents of Pawling claim Daryl's House threatens to disrupt the area's beloved peace and quiet. - PageSix.com, 4/6/17...... Jeff LynneThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted its Class of 2017 on Apr. 7 at Brooklyn's Barclays Center, with Electric Light Orchestra, Journey, Yes, Joan Baez, Pearl Jam and Tupac Shakur entering the Cleveland-based Hall and Museum's ranks. ELO took charge of an homage to recently deceased rock pioneer Chuck Berry, delivering their cheeky cover of Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven." ELO was inducted by Dhani Harrison, whose late father George Harrison was a close friend and Traveling Wilburys bandmate of ELO frontman Jeff Lynne's. Not surprisingly, Joan Baez was the sharpest of the Rock Hall inductees, singing about deportees and talking social activism, and joked that a good portion of the audience probably "don't know who I am." After Rush's Geddy Lee helped "right a wrong" by inducting Yes into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Lee joined his prog-rock heroes onstage for a crushingly loud run-through of "Roundabout. To the dismay of Journey fans, classic vocalist Steve Perry didn't reunite with his bandmates for their performance, but Perry did offer up a touching speech that included a nod to his high school R&B band, and the "magic fingers" of Journey guitarist Neal Schon. Journey played what has become their signature tune, "Don't Stop Believin'," to a wildly enthusiastic audience. As per tradition, the night was closed with an all-star jam, this time a cover of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." Also during the ceremony, disco pioneer and super producer Nile Rodgers received the Award for Musical Excellence. The show was taped and will air on HBO on Apr. 29. - Billboard, 4/8/17...... Diana Ross will open the 2017 Essence Festival in New Orleans on June 30. Other headliners at the three-night event include Mary J. Blige and Chance the Rapper. - Billboard, 4/6/17...... Iggy Pop will be among the headliners at the fourth annual Project Pabst festival, set for Portland, Ore., on Aug. 26-27. The lineup also includes Beck, Spoon and Father John Misty. - Billboard, 4/5/17...... Several jazz luminaries including Herbie Hancock, Esperanza Spalding and Cassandra Wilson will take part in the sixth annual International Jazz Festival in Havana, Cuba, on Apr. 30. Previous host cities for the event, which is coordinated by UNESCO and the Washington, D.C.-based Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, have included Osaka, Paris, Istanbul and Washington, D.C. - Billboard, 4/10/17...... Geddy LeeRush will be honored with the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award for the Canadian power trio's social activism and support of humanitarian causes during the annual Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Awards gala dinner in Toronto on Apr. 20, an event during Canadian Music Week. "They're giving us an award for doing what everyone should do," says Rush bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee. "It should be a part of everyone's upbringing and routine of life: You share when you've been blessed with good fortune. The world needs a lot of work, and there are not enough workers. We try to help where we can." Beginning with its 2010 Time Machine Tour, Rush has donated $1 from every concert ticket to various organizations, including Doctors Without Borders. They also contributed $100,000 to Hurricane Katrina relief in 2008. - Billboard, 4/10/17...... The estate of renowned pop artist Andy Warhol filed a lawsuit in New York federal court on Apr. 7 against a photographer who is claiming that Warhol copied her photo of Prince. In 1984, Warhol painted a series of portraits of Prince and, according to the suit, he "drew inspiration from and transformed a publicity photograph" of the artist that was in circulation at the time. Now, three decades later, the estate claims photographer Lynn Goldsmith is complaining that the works, a sample from which is below, violate her copyright in the original 1981 photo. In a pre-emptive move, Warhol's estate is seeking a declaration that the Prince series does not infringe on Goldsmith's work, that the works in the series are transformative and protected by fair use and that any potential copyright claims are barred by the statute of limitations and the doctrine of laches. Meanwhile, a recent New York Times report says that many open questions remain about the 57-year-old musician's death on Apr. 21, 2016. Investigators still don't know how Prince came into possession of the powerful opioid fentanyl, which has been the cause of a rash of overdoses and death over the past few years. If Prince's fentanyl came from the black market -- which appears to be the case -- it will be difficult, if not impossible to track down the source without a paper trail. The Times report says that given the series of dead ends investigators have encountered so far, it's possible the true story of Prince's death may never be known. Prince's ex-wife, Mayte Garcia, has released a new memoir covering her 11 years with Prince, but says it's "no 'tell-all'." Garcia's The Most Beautiful Girl in the World takes its name from a Prince song he wrote about her. - The Hollywood Reporter/Billboard/AP, 4/7/17...... Jerry ReedLate country singer Jerry Reed, "The Gambler" songwriter Don Schlitz, and current country sensation Alan Jackson will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later in 2017, it was announced on Apr. 5. Reed, who died in 2008 at age 71, released a string of country/pop hits including Grammy-winning "When You're Hot, You're Hot" and "Amos Moses." After regularly appearing on Glen Campbell's TV show, he started a successful career in Hollywood. He starred opposite Burt Reynolds in the Smokey and the Bandit films and appeared in Adam Sandler's The Waterboy. - AP, 4/6/17...... Stevie Wonder will be presented with the inaugural Key of Life Award, named in his honor, at ASCAP's "I Create Music" Expo, set for Apr. 13-15 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles. The Key of Life Award, which recognizes songwriters who demonstrate their commitment to the art form, will be accepted by Wonder during his keynote interview, which will close the event. - Billboard, 4/10/17...... A trailer featuring Led Zepplin's "Immigrant Song" for the upcoming Marvel movie Thor: Ragnarok was released on Apr. 10. Thor: Ragnarok stars Cate Blanchett and is the third movie in the Thor franchise. - Billboard, 4/10/17...... Carole King's 1971 mega-selling album Tapestry has just had its record for the most weeks on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart by a woman broken by Adele's second album 21. The 2011 21 LP has notched its 319th week on the roundup, beating Tapestry's 318 weeks. - Jezebel.com, 4/7/17...... A new study from the website McGamez.com has found the most expensive vinyl records on the market today include the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" ($10,578), the Beatles' UK debut album Please Please Me ($8,323) and the Beatles' Introducing the Beatles ($7,573). The full list can be found on the MrGamez site. - Billboard, 4/6/17...... Two time Grammy-award nominated guitarist/vocalist Joe Bonamassa will launch his upcoming April 2017 UK Tour on Apr. 18 at Edinburgh Usher Hall. Bonamassa's other dates include two sold-out performances at Royal Albert Hall on Apr. 20 and 21, a sold-out show at the Blackpool Opera House on Apr. 22, and a date at the Sheffield Arena on Apr. 24. The tour follows hot on the heels of his critically acclaimed Salute to the British Blues Explosion tour that saw the American guitarist paying homage to the music of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. - Noble PR, 4/11/17...... Don RicklesLegendary comedian Don Rickles, the honorary Rat Pack member and celebrity roast guest whose career spanned six decades, passed away on the morning of Apr. 6 at his home in Los Angeles from kidney failure, his longtime publicist Paul Shefrin confirmed. He was 90. Sarcastically nicknamed "Mr. Warmth," Mr. Rickles had mock disdain for stars, major public figures and all those who paid to see him, tweaking TV audiences and Las Vegas showroom crowds with his acerbic brand of takedown comedy. Mr. Rickles honed his reputation in numerous appearances on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts that ran on NBC from the mid-1970s to the mid-80s. In the 1960s and 1970s, Johnny Carson provided Mr. Rickles a late-night stage by making him one of The Tonight Show's most-frequent guests. On one memorable moment in 1968, Mr. Rickles cozied up to a half-naked Carson during a sketch with two Japanese female masseuses and said, "I'm so lonely, Johnny!" Carson threw him in a bathtub. More recently, he was a regular guest on Late Show With David Letterman, in which the CBS host treated Mr. Rickles like royalty. Born Donald Jay Rickles in the New York borough of Queens on May 8, 1926, Mr. Rickles studied acting and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. At age 32, Mr. Rickles landed a small part in Robert Wise's submarine drama Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), starring Clark Gable. Two years later, he was cast in The Rat Race with Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds. Both during his TV and Las Vegas nightclub entrances, Mr. Rickles would ome onstage accompanied by the old Spanish bullfight song "La Virgen de la Macarena," a subtle signal that someone was about to be metaphorically gored. His numerous TV guest appearances include episodes of The Twilight Zone, Wagon Train, Burke's Law, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., I Dream of Jeannie, I Spy, Get Smart (alongside his buddy, Don Adams), Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Sanford and Son, The Bernie Mac Show and Hot in Cleveland. He also appeared in his own series, NBC's CPO Sharkey, from 1976-78. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Barbara Sklar, and their two children, Mindy and Larry. - Variety.com, 4/6/17...... David PeelDavid Peel, the anti-establishment New York street singer and political activist known for his songs about marijuana and John Lennon, died on Apr. 6 after suffering a massive heart attack on Mar. 31. He was 73. Peel, real name David Rosario, released his first two albums, The American Revolution and Have a Marijuana, on Elektra Records in 1968 and 1970, respectively. Peel met up with Lennon and Yoko Ono when they were being shown around Greenwich Village in 1972. He was signed to the Beatles' Apple Records label and recorded an album produced by Lennon and Ono called The Pope Smokes Dope that was released in 1972 and immediately caused controversy because of its title. Peel also made a guest appearance on the Lennon-produced, self-titled Elephant's Memory album for the band that backed Lennon. Two of his eclectic albums made the Billboard 200 albums chart: Have a Marijuana peaked at No. 186 in 1969, while The Pope Smokes Dope peaked at No 191 in 1972. His later solo albums included tributes to Lennon: John Lennon for President and John Lennon Forever, plus Bring Back The Beatles and Long Live The Grateful Dead. - Billboard, 4/7/17.

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on April 6th, 2017



In a new interview with People magazine, Barry Manilow opened up about his secret marriage to his manager Garry Kief in 2014 which forced him to come out as gay in 2015, but he has since remained quiet about his sexuality and marriage. Manilow, interviewed at his Palm Springs home, told the magazine that when the pair met in 1978, "I knew that this was it," adding, "I was one of the lucky ones. I was pretty lonely before that." Despite being in love with Kief, who serves as Manilow's manager and acts as President of Barry Manilow Productions, Manilow admitted that he was concerned about how fans would react upon finding out that he was gay. "I thought I would be disappointing them if they knew I was gay. So I never did anything," Manilow said. But the 73-year-old singer was pleased that the reaction was opposite: "When they found out that Garry and I were together, they were so happy. The reaction was so beautiful -- strangers commenting, 'Great for you!' I'm just so grateful for it." Manilow is promoting his upcoming LP of New York-centric songs, Manilow will release his latest studio album, This Is My Town: Songs of New York, which is due on Apr. 21. - Billboard/People, 4/5/17...... Bob DylanBob Dylan finally accepted the Nobel Prize for literature in person during a private event in Stockholm, Sweden on Apr. 1. Wearing a black hoodie and brown boots, the rock legend accepted the award in an event with no media present that "went very well indeed" according to a member of the Swedish Academy. Dylan, the first songwriter to receive the Nobel Prize for literature, later headed to the Stockholm Waterfront venue where he performed live. Dylan was named the recipient of the award in 2016, but missed the official prize-giving ceremony in December due to "previous commitments," and Patti Smith performed at the event in his place. A condition of receiving the 8m kroner (£727,000) prize money that accompanies the honor is giving a lecture, and the singer has until June to deliver his speech or forfeit the money. It is expected that he will give a taped version of his planned talk in the next few months. - New Musical Express, 1/1/17...... The Beatles' Apple Corps. officially announced on Apr. 5 that the band's classic 1967 album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band will be getting a special anniversary reissue on May 26 in several CD and vinyl packages to feature new audio mixes of the album and a special super deluxe six-disc set full of unreleased outtakes. Fans will be able to choose from four separate offerings, including a newly remixed single disc of the original album, a two-LP vinyl set with the album and a second disc of collected outtakes in the same order as the album and a two-disc CD version with a second disc of complete early takes from the album in the same sequence plus outtakes of "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever," the two-sided single released before the album. The six-CD deluxe set will be housed in a box and include the original remixed album, two discs of outtakes in chronological order of their first recording date and a CD of the original mono mixes of the album. "It's crazy to think that 50 years later we are looking back on this project with such fondness and a little bit of amazement at how four guys, a great producer and his engineers could make such a lasting piece of art," says Paul McCartney in the introduction to the book in the deluxe set. The album won four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and was selected in 2003 by the Library of Congress for its National Recording Registry as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." Additionally, for Record Store Day on Apr. 22, the Beatles said today they will release a limited edition vinyl single of "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever." - Billboard/NME, 4/5/17...... George HarrisonIn other Beatles news, George Harrison's widow Olivia Harrison and their son Dhani Harrison recently hosted a 74th birthday tribute to George at Los Angeles' Subliminal Gallery. The event also marked the launch of a new "extended edition" of Harrison's 1980 classic memoir I Me Mine with new lyrics, writings and photos, which was published on Feb. 21, as well as a new 13-album Harrison vinyl box set, The Vinyl Collection. "The book is as complete as we could make it," Olivia says. "I've been trying to do it for three or four years." Olivia added that she recently discovered a lost George song called "Hey Ringo" in a piano bench in an envelope. "They think it was from around 1970 or 1971. "I'm going to get it framed and give it to him because it's really sweet... Ringo was totally surprised and really happy. What a gift to have all these years later." - Billboard, 4/3/17...... Penning a tribute to late rock 'n' roll pioneer Chuck Berry for Rolling Stone magazine, Keith Richards recalled an incident when Berry punched him in the eye after Richards, "out of professional interest," took Berry's guitar out of its case and began playing it in the dressing room after a New York Berry concert. "Chuck walked in and gave me this wallop to the frickin' left eye," Richards said. "But I realized I was in the wrong. If I walked into my dressing room and saw somebody fiddling with my ax, it would be perfectly all right to sock 'em, you know? I just got caught." Richards also described the late musician as "the granddaddy of us all" and "incredibly versatile." - NME/Rolling Stone, 4/3/17...... A rep for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced on Apr. 5 that David Letterman will be filling in for Neil Young when Pearl Jam is inducted into the Rock Hall on Apr. 7 during a ceremony at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The statement said that "an illness" prevented Young from inducting the iconic alternative band, and that the retired The Late Show host, on whose show Pearl Jam performed seven times, would be handling the duties instead. The RRHOF induction ceremony will be taped and broadcast on cable channel HBO Apr. 29 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. A special exhibit dedicated to the 2017 class will open at the Rock Hall in Cleveland Mar. 31. - RollingStone.com, 4/5/17...... David ByrneFormer Talking Heads frontman David Byrne attended a rally at New York's City Hall on Apr. 3 to protest Pres. Donald Trump's proposed elimination of publicly funded arts organizations like the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. "This is a political move -- it really doesn't amount to much money... it's a tiny part of the federal budget," Byrne has posted on his website. "The amount of federal funding is $741 million, which sounds like a lot, but is less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the United States' annual federal spending..." The musician also noted a recent study finding that non-profit arts generate $135.2 billion in economic activity in the US. "Why in the world would one want to walk away from such an incredible investment?," he asked. - Billboard/Stereogum, 4/4/17...... Nancy Wilson of Heart says her new side project Roadcase Royale is a "really cool new band for me." "With Liv Warfield at the front and center, there's a whole different rock power that is refreshingly different than Heart; It's still got the rock ethic but there's a flavor of the R&B that comes through Liv, the way she sings, and her power's just flattening," Nancy says. "She wanted to rock and I love the R&B world -- we said, 'We should get together,' and with most people, that never happens. But we followed up on it and it's really exciting." Roadcase Royale is also considering touring this summer -- including possible opening slots on major tours -- with a repertoire that will also include Heart favorites and at least one Prince song. Wilson is also looking forward to her first ever Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp gig during the June 29-July 2 session in Hollywood. "I'll be there to advise people to be careful with their aspirations and just help them have some fun with it," she says. - Billboard, 4/4/17...... Speaking with the BBC after being named as "Record Store Day Legend" ahead of this year's Record Store Day on Apr. 22, Elton John insisted that vinyl "sounds better" than CDs and streaming. "It does sound better. I know people say it doesn't, but it does," said Sir Elton, adding: "I've been around long enough to know. I've been in so many studios, I've made so many records. It just sounds better." To coincide with the 10th Record Store Day, John will release a new vinyl version of his 17-11-10 live album. "It's probably one of the best live albums of all time. I'm never one to say good things about myself, but it is pretty fabulous," he said. - New Musical Express, 4/6/17...... Bruce SpringsteenMemorabilia dealer Moments in Time has just put up for sale a Bruce Springsteen collection of 300 items, including original lyrics, clothing, guitars, and more. Billed as the "Ultimate Springsteen Collection," the seller of the memorabilia accumulated the goods over an 11-year period of time that began after he first purchased the 1957 Chevy Bel Air Convertible in which Springsteen wrote "Born to Run" (which is not included in the sale). He then began collecting fervently, building his own personal museum of The Boss items and contributing pieces to exhibits at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some of the items included in this set for sale are Springsteen's 4F card excusing him from service in the Vietnam War, different drafts of "Born to Run" lyrics, and the original flannel shirt Springsteen wore on the cover of his The River album. "It's extraordinary that one person could assemble such a truly unbelievable collection," said Gary Zimet of Moments in Time. The price for all the items is fixed at $7.5 million, but Zimet said he would consider selling pieces individually. - Billboard, 4/3/17...... Michael Jackson's eldest son Prince Jackson has reportedly paid tribute to his late dad with an impressive tattoo adorning the lower half of his leg. The tattoo depicts Michael -- who passed away in 2009, at the age of 50 -- in one of his signature dance poses, legs crossed and hands (one wearing his white glove) high in the air. Jackson's daughter Paris Jackson also has tattoos inspired by her father, including his Dangerous artwork, as well as "Queen of My Heart" inked in her father's handwriting. - Billboard, 4/1/17...... Lonnie Brooks, a Chicago blues man known for his intense guitar solos and raspy but strong voice, died on Apr. 1 at age 83. Mr. Brooks' relationship with his adopted hometown was cemented by his hit recording of Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago." He recorded a number of albums for Chicago-based Alligator Records' "Living Chicago Blues" series including classics such as "Bayou Lightning," "Hot Shot," and "Lone Star Shootout." He also appeared in Dan Aykroyd's film Blues Brothers 2000. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel described Mr. Brooks as a blues legend "with a towering talent and soulful style that won him legions of fans across the country and around the world." - AP, 4/3/17.

More than 1,000 pieces from Bob Dylan's one-secret 6,000-piece archive were made available to scholars at the Gilcrease Museum's Helmerich Center for American Research in Tulsa, Okla., on Mar. 29. The pieces include thousands of hours of studio sessions, film reels and caches of unpublished lyrics that span Dylan's six-decade career. The opening of the center, which also houses a collection devoted to major Dylan influence Woody Guthrie, comes a year after the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the University of Tulsa acquired the collection for an estimated $15 million to $20 million. The public will get a glimpse of some of the material when the Bob Dylan Center opens in downtown Tulsa's Brady Arts District in about two years. In other Dylan news, it was announced on Mar. 29 that Dylan will physically accept his Nobel Prize for Literature during the first weekend of April when he arrives in Sweden to perform at a pair of Stockholm dates. "The Swedish Academy is very much looking forward to the weekend and will show up at one of the performances. Please note that no Nobel Lecture will be held. The Academy has reason to believe that a taped version will be sent at a later point," Swedish Academy secretary Sara Danius wrote. She added that only Dylan and members of the Academy will attend, "all according to Dylan's wishes." In December, Dylan informally accepted the award, submitting a speech assuring that he was "honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize" and that for him to "join the names on such a list [of Nobel Prize recipients] is truly beyond words." - The Hollywood Reporter/Billboard, 3/29/17...... Steve PerryWith the 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony set for Apr. 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain has told a Dayton, Oh. newspaper that Journey vocalist Steve Perry will attend the gala as Journey is inducted into the rock hall, however it's doubtful that he will perform with the band. "That's all I know, unless something changes," Cain said. Instead, Cain said replacement lead vocalist Arnel Pineda will "represent very well, like he always does" during Journey's performance. - Billboard/Stereogum.com, 3/31/17...... Barry Manilow has been tapped to receive the prestigious BMI Icon Award during the upcoming 65th annual BMI Pop Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on May 9. "Barry Manilow is a visionary whose exceptional body of work has shaped the course of popular music for over five decades," said BMI exec Barbara Cane in a statement. Previous BMI Icon Award honorees include Sting, Stevie Nicks, Paul Simon, Carole King, John Fogerty, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Brian Wilson and Dolly Parton, among others. Manilow will release his latest studio album, This Is My Town: Songs of New York, on Apr. 21. - Billboard, 3/31/17...... Aerosmith is set to perform at the final night of the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament on Apr. 2 in Phoenix, Ariz. The three days of music coinciding with college basketball's Final Four will also include Keith Urban, The Chainsmokers, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis , leading up to Aerosmith's set. Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry says he and bandmates Steven Tyler, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer will give fans a good taste of what to expect when Aerosmith sets out on its U.S. tour this summer, including some songs "that were last on our set list 10, 20 years ago." - Billboard, 3/30/17...... A New York City condo formerly owned by David Bowie and his wife Inman has been put on the market for $6.5 million. Bowie and Iman lived there from 1991 to 2002, when they sold the property for $1.7 million, leaving Bowie's Yamaha piano behind. Besides the piano, the 1877-square foot condo in Manhattan's Essex House boasts a limestone foyer, a walnut-paneled office, a newly renovated kitchen, and views overlooking Central Park. - Billboard/Forbes, 3/29/17...... The recording console used to record Pink Floyd's 1972 classic The Dark Side of the Moon sold at auction for $1,807,500 during a sale conducted by Bonhams Auction House on Mar. 28. The 40-channel EMI TG12345 MK IV was custom-built by EMI engineers for the legendary Abbey Road Studios, and according to the Bonhams, it has also been used by Paul McCartney and Wings, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Kate Bush and the Cure. - Billboard, 3/28/17...... Joni MitchellJoni Mitchell made a rare public appearance at Elton John's 70th birthday party at Los Angeles' The Hammer Museum on Mar. 25. Mitchell was pictured arriving in a wheelchair at the star-studded bash and appeared to be in good spirits, reportedly getting out of the chair to make the short walk to her waiting car when leaving Elton's party. Mitchell, 73, has rarely appeared in public since she was rushed to hospital after collapsing at her home in March, 2015, but is now reportedly well on the road to recovery. She also attended a star-studded pre-Grammys party in February. - WENN.com, 3/27/17...... Speaking of Elton John, it has been revealed that the rock icon is developing an animated version of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" with the musical's songwriters, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. STX Entertainment chairman Adam Fogelson announced the project on Mar. 28 at CinemaCon, the annual gathering of theater owners and exhibitors. The musical, which Rice and Webber created in the late 1960s, is based on the "coat of many colors" story from the Book of Genesis. - AP, 3/29/17...... It was announced on Mar. 29 that a public funeral for Chuck Berry will take place in his hometown of St. Louis on Apr. 9. Public viewing will run from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at The Pageant, a well-known concert venue down the street from the club Blueberry Hill, where Berry held a nearly two decade-long residency that ended in 2014. Joe Edwards, The Pageant's owner and longtime Berry friend, says that Berry will lie in repose in an open casket, giving fans their last glimpse of the music legend. The public viewing will be followed by a private service for the late songwriter's family and friends. Berry passed away at his home near St. Louis on Mar. 18 at age 90. - AP/Spin.com, 3/29/17...... Paul McCartney has responded to Sony/ATV's suggestion that he brought an "unripe" lawsuit seeking confirmation he'll reclaim rights to Beatles songs in 2018. In a letter to the judge on Mar. 29, McCartney's lawyer Michael Jacobs writes, "Delay would not simplify the parties' dispute, but it would prejudice McCartney. As long as Sony/ATV refuses to disavow any right to sue for breach of contract, McCartney has a cloud over the title to his works, which devalues his rights." McCartney sued Sony/ATV in January and looked for assurance that under 304(c) of the U.S. Copyright Act, he has the ability to grab back rights to works by serving a notice of termination. The legendary former Beatle expects to do so in 2018, but he's worried, due to a case involving a Sony affiliate over in the U.K. There, an English court ruled that Duran Duran's contractual promise to not transfer its interest in copyrights foreclosed the band's ability to terminate a grant of rights. The British justice believes it isn't necessary to heed an aspect of American copyright law that states that termination of a grant "may be effected notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary." - The Hollywood Reporter, 3/29/17...... After releasing his latest single, "I Saved a Bird Today," in early March, Peter Frampton has just released an acoustic video performance of the song shot in his studio, and a behind-the-scenes video where he explains the full story of how he saved a bird that flew into a window at his house in Nashville, Tenn. "This is how the song sounded as we were writing it," Frampton says. "So much fun to play and I love that's it a true story about caring and compassion, which we need more of today." Frampton kicked off a spring U.S. tour on Mar. 13 in Fort Lauderdale that will run through Apr. 12 in Rutland, Vermont. Three days later, he'll launch a co-headlining tour with fellow Classic Rock legend Steve Miller on June 15 in Holmdel, N.J., that will run through Aug. 13 in Murphy's, Calif. - Billboard, 3/29/17...... Roger DaltreyThe Who's Roger Daltrey told the U.K. music site New Musical Express that even a "dead dog" could have beaten Hillary Clinton in the last U.S. presidential election. Daltrey said that Donald Trump "really didn't win" the election because Democrats "threw it away." Daltrey also said he's in favor of the U.K. leaving the European union, and when the dust settles from the Brexit move, "I think that it'll be seen that it's the right thing for this country to have done." Daltrey added that he'll "probably hand his Teenage Cancer Trust gigs over to Noel Gallegher" in a few years. 2017 marks the 17th anniversary of Teenage Cancer Trust gigs being held at London's Royal Albert Hall in aid of the charity. "I'd like to do 20 years and that'd be enough for me," Daltrey said "I'll probably hand it over to Noel or someone. One of the younger mob." The Teenage Cancer Trust's run of gigs include Paul Weller on Mar. 31, The Who (play Tommy) on Apr. 1, and the Pet Shop Boys on Apr. 2. - AP/NME, 3/30/17...... Speaking of Donald Trump, John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) of the Sex Pistols has defended the controversial U.S. president in a new interview with Virgin Radio, calling him, among other things, a "joy to behold" and a "possible friend." Lydon also said the media was "trying to smear the bloke as a racist, and that's completely not true." "America now has a new president and whether you like him or not you have to support him or you will destroy the country. You got to make things work," he said. - Spin.com, 3/28/17...... Recordings by such famous '70s acts as David Bowie, Don McLean, Talking Heads and the Eagles were added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress on Mar. 29. Each year, the Librarian of Congress picks 25 titles that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and at least 10 years old. The 2017 additions include Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, McLean's "American Pie," Talking Heads' Remain in Light, and the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975). Judy Collins' "Amazing Grace," Barbra Streisand's "People" and Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" were also among the 25 recordings added. - Billboard, 3/29/17...... Donna Betts, the wife of former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts, was arrested after an altercation at her property in Sarasota County, Fla., on Mar. 28. Betts, 62, was accused of pointing her rifle at teenage members of the Sarasota Crew rowing team. Their practice facility at Bay Preserve sits adjacent to the Betts home. She was charged with 18 counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. According to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, Betts is alleged to have threatened the team's members and coaches. Footage captured on a phone supports the case, and the 911 caller claims she then threw her weapon into the water. A judge ordered the woman, who has a history of disputes between herself the rowing team, released on a $180,000 bond on the condition she did not use alcohol or drugs or access the backyard of her property. She has also been prohibited from possessing firearms. - New Musical Express, 3/30/17...... Sammy HagarSammy Hagar has recruited Mick Fleetwood, Dave Grohl and Bob Weir for the 2017 edition of his annual Acoustic-4-A-Cure Benefit, set for May 15 in San Francisco. Also performing will be Pat Benatar, ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder, guitarists Vic Johnson and Steve Vai, and Sarah McLachlan. The all-star acoustic jam session hopes to raise $100,000 for pediatric cancer research at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. Hagar created the event three years ago with Metallica's James Hetfield after meeting Dr. Jean Nakamura, a physician and leading scientist searching for a cure to pediatric brain cancer. Hagar says Acoustic-4-A-Cure is inspired by Neil Young's annual Bridge School Benefit concert at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif., as well as Hagar's support of charities in both California and Maui, where he lives part-time.- Billboard, 3/29/17...... Clem Curtis, the former lead vocalist of the 1960s soul group The Foundations, died on Mar. 27 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 76. The Trinidad-born Curtis joined The Foundations in 1967, singing on the multi-racial soul group's breakout hit "Baby Now That I've Found You," which topped the singles charts in the U.K. and reached No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the States. Curtis fronted further Foundations singles in "Back on My Feet Again" (also a Hot 100 hit) and "Any Old Time (You're Lonely and Sad)" in 1968. He was no longer in the group, however, when the band released its biggest hit, "Build Me Up Buttercup," in 1968. Colin Young provided lead vocals for that song, which rose to No. 3 on the Billboard charts in America. Curtis would rejoin The Foundations in the mid-'70s, though by then, the group had fractured to the point where multiple members were leading their own iterations of the band. - Billboard, 3/28/17...... Screenwriter Allan Weiss, who worked on the scripts for six Elvis Presley movies including 1961's Blue Hawaii, 1962's Girls! Girls! Girls!, 1963's Fun in Acapulco, 1964's Roustabout, 1966's Paradise, Hawaiian Style and 1967's Easy Come, Easy Go died on Mar. 23 at a nursing facility in Mission Viejo, Calif. He was 90. Mr. Weiss, an associate of renowned producer Hal B. Wallis, once noted that to write a screenplay for an Elvis movie, "You had to make room for 12 songs, and they had to be integrated." He and Anthony Lawrence's script for Roustabout was nominated for a WGA award for best movie musical that year, losing out to Mary Poppins. Mr. Weiss received credit for just one other screenplay during his career -- for The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), the Henry Hathaway-directed film that starred John Wayne and Dean Martin. - The Hollywood Reporter, 3/27/17.